Child Care For the Busy Parent

When you are someone that wants to make sure that your child has everything that they need, you may want to have some kind of child home care. Some times parents work away from home and they do not want to take their child to a day care facility. When this is the case, they will have a home childcare worker come in and take care of the children each day. A home child care worker is someone that is willing to take care of a child in their home and make sure they have all their needs and wants met. You will find that there are a lot of people that want to do this type of work for a living. Many times a home child care worker will be someone that the parents like and trust as well as the children feel good about too. Getting child care at home is something that the parents often times have to pay substantial money for. They will have to find the childcare worker (sometimes called or referred to as a nanny) that they want and pay for the total expense of their work. This could include transporation. Finding someone to take care of your children inside your home is not always easy, but there are agencies that will help you locate, screen, and qualify your child caretaker. You will have to do a lot of research so that you are sure the person that you hire is gong to do a great job and be someone that you can trust with your precious package. Pros and Cons of Home Child Care If you are thinking about home child care, be aware that there are many pros and cons. Not all are obvious. We discuss a few of them here. First the pros: Probably among the top "pros" is the convenience for the parents. In addition, the child may have more normal sleep patterns. Depending upon the care giver, the child (or children) will probably receive better and more personal individual care. The child will be comfortable in a familiar setting. The Parent(s), not the institution, can control the diet and food quality. If there is a child with a contagious illness, the home cared child will not be exposed to it. The advantages seem obvious. Then there are cons. First and as a direct correlation to the "pro" is the convenience factor.. but in this case, the convenience comes at the risk of having essentially one child care provider. If that person becomes ill, or for some reason becomes unreliable, then the convenience is all gone. The child being at home is not exposed to other children and social skill development in these very early years, particularly before age five. We list "diet" as a pro.. but on the con side, possibly the parent is not as careful in planning a balanced meal program. Then there's the exposure to "germs" and "disease". Maybe that's not all bad as these factors lead to building a child's immunity, and without this exposure, immunity could be slower to develop. Lastly, there's the cost. In all probability, personal child care is at least double, if not more, the costs of a group child care facility. Getting home childcare is a great advantage because you will not have to take the child out of the home daily. You will find it much easier when the childcare provider comes to your home. You will not have to worry about where the child is and what they are doing. You will also not have to worry about other children being around your child and causing harm to them. You should feel secure knowing that your child is safe at home with a qualified home childcare provider. The childcare provider that you have coming into your home is going to offer a list of different services. You will see that they will feed your child as well as play with them when they would like. You can also find some home child care workers that will teach your children basics that they need to have in order to grow productively. There are many great reasons why you should try to have a home care provider for your wonderful children. You should look into the different ways this type of childcare can help you the most. One of your first steps is to compile a list of what you want and expect from your new "nanny". Then list the various ways you might have for finding this person.Classified ads, references from other parents, agencies and even the internet as nannies advertise there. If you live in a metropolitan area, you may have greater resources. KNOW your budget. Will this person be offered "live in" arrangements? If so, get a contract and state the hours of work and when he or she is free. Lastly, don't forget the tax implications. If you hire them as an employee, you will be obligated to pay employer type taxes. If you are not familiar with this, check with an accountant. Also see if these costs are deductible. Then finally, don't just interview the prospective child care provider, but get solid references. If you do your homework properly, you'll have great satisfaction in knowing your child or children are getting the best of care.
by: Ruth Leitch

How To: Breast Pump Instructions

So the predicament is, you have decided to breast feed and now you have went out and purchased a breast pump. You now are looking at the breast pump instructions and thinking, now what? Sometimes breast pump instructions can be confusing and somewhat misleading. The breast pump instructions often assume you know what they are talking about. For example, when they use a word, they are taking for granted that the person reading the instructions knows what the word means. When you first open your breast pump and pull out the breast pump instructions, you will notice there are many pieces to the whole thing. Basically, they will all connect together to provide the base, breast suction and transfer into a container. The whole concept of a breast pump is very simple. Breast pumps are all basically built the same. The only difference between the manual and the electric is just that. One you have to use your hands to create the suction on the breast, the other is created by the machine itself. Another difference you will find among the two is that a manual breast pump will only pump one breast at a time where an electrical will pump two breasts at a time. Mother’s will often choose an electrical pump for time sake; especially when they are returning to work after giving birth to a baby. Basic general instructions are outlined below. Of course, this is just a basic structure where every breast pumping is different. 1. Make sure you start to pump breast milk about two weeks before you go back to work. This is for two main reasons. The first reason is because this will get your breasts used to the routine. Second, it will get you in the routine and prepare you for what is actually involved. The more practice with it, the better. 2. Remember; the more often you pump, the more milk your breasts will produce breast milk. The first couple of days you pump you will probably not get much. This is because your body has started to make milk, but it is not quite let it out yet. This is perfectly normal. 3. You can pump for about ten to fifteen minutes at a time. A great way to pump is right after your baby has finished eating. By pumping directly after the baby has eaten, you are increasing the amount of milk your breasts produces. 4. Breast milk can be store for 3 to eight days in the coolest part of your fridge, which is usually the back or for three months in your freezer.
by: Michael Gunn

Let Your Child Do His Homework On His Own

Parents often think that it is important to complete homework in order to get good academic results or to prevent the child from falling behind his work schedule or for immediate reasons - to safeguard him from the scoldings of the teacher. But we have to understand that the underlying principle behind homework is much beyond that. Let's see how - • The first lesson of self reliance comes through homework. When the child does homework on his own, it creates a sense of independence in him. Therefore, be there to help your child only when he has questions or finds it difficult to solve a problem on his own. Be supportive but not interfering. • Learning improves when the child does homework on his own. When a child listens to his teacher in the class, he cannot retain all that is taught. Homework is an effective tool to help the child recall and retain whatever is taught. When a child does an exercise on his own, he applies logic and uses his reasoning ability and thus never forgets it. This helps to develop an analytical mind. • Homework is a way to help the child learn to manage his time. Inculcate in your child self-management and time management skills by helping him schedule his homework. Giving him leeway in setting his routine will ensure that he manages to take out time for T.V., for play as well as his homework. • Appreciation and rewards for completing homework makes the child enjoy his work. It gives the child a sense of achievement and homework instead of becoming a burden feels like an enjoyable activity. Time to time praise by parents and the teachers encourages the child to do his homework more efficiently, thus instilling in him the desire to learn. •Freedom to child to handle the responsibility of homework demands patience from parents. Parents should not become tense or paranoid if the child gets a little less marks or takes a little more time to complete his work. Give space and time to your child to get into the mindset and learn to do things on his own. Don't expect instant results.
by: Sudha Gupta

Choosing Unique Toys for Kids

Whether you are searching for the perfect birthday gift, Christmas present, or just for every day imaginative play, choosing unique toys that every kids doesn't have is a challenge. Having toys that are fun and educational are a necessity to the modern home. This guide will help you choose toys that you child will love. You will love the price tag and the functionality as well.

1. Leap Frog Tag Reading System
This toy is great because your preschooler can read on his own. He simply runs a special computerized pen across a special book and it reads the words for him. Of course, this does not replace one on one time reading with your child, but can allow him to get some reading done and learn new words when you are unavailable. Easy to store in the garage or on a covered porch. Price: $35

2. Razor Pro Scooter
A scooter is a great way to get your child motivated to play outside. You can get them for girls or boys and they are great fun to play with! You can invited neighbor kids over for a scooter play date too. This is a great way to get inactive kids to get off the couch and outside to play. Price $25+

3. Play Food
Anything imaginative is great for a toddler or child. Kids love to play with things that grown ups use. This is why play food is a great gift or toy for your little girl or boy. She will love to bake a cake, make cookies, shakes, eggs, pancakes and more with this fun and imaginative toy. Price $5+
4. Dress Up Clothes
Many children love to pretend and dress up in costumes. They may like to pretend that they are a princess or a pirate. What little girl doesn't love Cinderella dress up clothes? Crowns and wands are also very popular. What little boy doesn't love to pretend to be a knight who saves Princess Rapunzel, or damsel in distress? Make sure you get costumes that are machine washable. Price: $20+

5. Games
Games are great family activities. Whether you have a set night of the week you spend time together, or just get together with friends and family to play games, for older kids Settlers of Catan is a really fun game that will keep them captivated and learning for hours on end. Price $25+

Whether you are on a budget, or the sky is the limit, this guide will help you on your quest to finding the perfect toy for the perfect child. Not only will they learn lessons and valuable skills with these toys, but if you teach them, they will learn how to love and respect their belongings.
by: Shelby Strong

7 Critical Mistakes Parents Need To Avoid With Their Kids

Critical Mistake # 1 Trying To Be Your Child’s Best Friend Although it is an admirable thing to want to be your child’s best friend, kids do not need that kind of relationship with their parents or carers. What your child needs is an authority figure to be the boss. This doesn’t mean that you have the right to be bossy. However, there needs to be a distinction so that your child realises that you are the final authority. I have seen many a single mum with one child, trying to be a “buddy” to them, possibly trying to make up for the fact that there may be no father in the child’s life. Don’t get me wrong. I am knocking the single mum; I am one of them. And as a single mum I need to be especially careful to let my children know that I am still the boss and that they are accountable to me. This gives the child a sense of security, knowing that someone is in charge. Critical Mistake # 2 Yelling At Your Child I know that all of us have yelled at our children at some stage. Some of us do it regularly, others just occasionally. What we need to realise is that it does our child no good to have us raise our voices at them. It will actually breed disrespect towards you. If we can learn the art of being non-reactive when our kids misbehave, we have learned a valuable skill to help our parenting efforts. Once we master this, we will realise that our children will react to us becoming more non-reactive and will calm down also. Our example actually helps to breed more harmony in the household. Praying or meditating each morning for a few minutes is a really good way to start the day when you are raising children. If you can put your mind at ease before you start the day, you will be more likely to feel relaxed when the inevitable happens. Critical Mistake # 3 Not Being Consistent Believe me, I know that this one can be really tough. I am a mother to four children and at times they seem to hound me all at once. It can be so easy for me to give in to their every request. However, we need to remember that not everything our child wants is beneficial for them. And often, children don’t understand the ramifications of what they do. That’s why we are the parents and they are the children. I sometimes have to say to my teenagers, “it’s just not my job to be liked. It’s my job to be consistent with you”. It is vitally important that we are not afraid to say this to our child. We are not trying to make life difficult for our children. All the same, left to their own devices they can make some pretty silly decisions. Critical Mistake # 4 Not Providing Good Boundaries I could write a whole book on this subject (hmmm, that’s not a bad idea at all)... all children, no matter what their age, need boundaries. When kids are given healthy boundaries they can function well at home, in school and in society. The real world operates with boundaries. If you break the law, you end up going to jail. That is a boundary the government puts in place to stop people from committing crimes. I provide boundaries for my children’s friends who come to play. Do I have the right to give boundaries to someone else’s child? Absolutely, if they are in my house. And I have had remarkable results from children who don’t usually behave elsewhere. When neighbour’s kids come to my house I simply explain to them what my house rules are. Once a child understands what is expected of them, then, and only then can you expect them to comply. Children need things spelled out clearly for them. Critical Mistake # 5 Entering Into Power Struggles No! No! No! Don’t do it. For those of you who don’t know, a power struggle is when you enter into a heated conversation with your child that never seems to end. There can be no winner because your child refuses to give up. Even if they are wrong, they won’t give up. When a child is in this kind of mood, everything you say or do will be wasted. Children that are emotional and angry cannot see or think clearly. This happened with one of my sons last night. He was very angry because the computer game wouldn’t let him win at a level. He became verbally abusive and refused to calm down. Two minutes later he told me that he was ready to talk about the incident. I sensed that he was still angry therefore I wasn’t prepared to talk and made him wait about half an hour before I saw that he had calmed down enough to talk rationally. Teenagers especially, have no logic when they want to argue about many things. They can know that they are wrong, yet still argue very persuasively that they are right. This is quite normal development for a teenager, however unacceptable as far as I am concerned. At least you know that it is relatively normal. But our job is to choose not to engage them in the argument in the first place. We need to find a way to end the discussion quickly without arguing, even if we must simply walk away. Critical Mistake # 6 Giving A Child Too Many Choices I shall explain myself. Firstly, it is a good idea to give your child choices within reason. But too many choices can become problematical. Take for instance the four year old that is asked what they want for breakfast: cocoa pops, corn flakes, weet bix, nutri-grain, rice bubbles or fruit loops. The problem here is that a young child isn’t capable of making decisions that involve many choices. A good choice for a four year old would be offering them rice bubbles or cocoa pops (just two). What we are trying to achieve is an amount of success with our children. If we give a child two choices and they pick one, they have experienced success to some degree. That allows us to build upon that success by adding more choices. However, when we start with many choices we are simply confusing our children. We are not doing them a favour. I use this technique with my strong willed daughter. Instead of telling her to have a bath each night, I say to her, “Becky, would you like to have a bath before dinner or after dinner?” This gives her a chance to express a bit of individuality and freedom to make a choice. But I have control over the choices and must be happy with both outcomes if I use this strategy. Not only does this method work really well with my daughter, it also gives her a feeling of power and kids love to feel in control. There’s nothing wrong with letting your kids feel like they can be decision makers sometimes. It can greatly enhance self esteem. Critical Mistake # 7 Lack Of Quality Time With Your Child For many children, love is spelled T-I-M-E. As parents, we must understand that nothing else will do. Not gifts, not food, not anything else. I remember last week my fifteen year old said to me “Mum, would you please get off that computer. You love that computer more than you love me”. He really made me think about the amount of time I spend working when the children are at home. David even said to me, “Mum, I would much rather have you spend time with me than a million dollars in the bank. I don’t care about your stupid web site. I want to spend time with you”. At the time that he said that, he had just finished an hour on the computer and was peeved off that I had removed him from it. But I still took the opportunity to think long and hard about what he had said. Parenting is one big learning curve and I never want to be so proud that I am not willing to learn something. I took my son’s words to heart that evening. I do hope you have learned a few things from this report. These are just seven things that came to mind as I was thinking today. My prayer is that you will act upon some of these things and improve your capacity to be a happy and consistent parent. Have confidence in all that you do and you can only do your best. Parenting is a journey and it is meant to be fun.
by: Kim Patrick

know Your Child, Listen To Him

Parents are often heard complaining to their child, "Why don't you listen to me?" But why do parents forget that it's a vicious circle. How good you are at listening to your child will determine how well he responds when you talk. Pay full attention : Don't be distracted by T.V. or the book you are reading. Don't just hear, but listen to him attentively to make him feel important. Be patient : Children cannot be expected to be articulate. Give him ample time to express and help him ascertain his feelings. Don't deny his feelings : If your child says that he is hurt after falling from the bed, don't tell him he is not. A child needs his feelings to be accepted and respected. Sensitivity works better than logic : When a child talks about an upset, don't interrupt him with logical or philosophical explanations. Rather hug him, hold his hand and let him speak his heart out. Listening adds confidence: Children begin to trust their feelings, believe in their perceptions when parents listen to them. This goes a long way in making a child a good conversationalist, a confident personality and the one who likes to listen to his parents. Listening helps in understanding your child : Know your child's needs, discover his interests, help him to come out of his problems and complexes by listening to him. Listening to your child will help you to become not only a better parent but also a friend much closer to your loved one.
by: Sudha Gupta

Internet Safety for Kids: 10 Guidelines to Help You Protect Your Children Online

Many kids these days are technically savvy, and their abilities on a keyboard often develop more quickly than their ability to recognize a potential threat. A young person's innocence and natural sense of trust can put her into dangerous situations, especially online, where everyone is virtually anonymous. Here are ten tips to help you protect your kids when they are using the internet: 1. Install a filter or firewall so that your child can't access potentially harmful sites. It's easy to find filters that are low-cost and even free. Start your search on CNet, which catalogs a number of filters with a variety of features for a child's different ages and stages. 2. Don't leave your kids alone in front of the computer. Allow them to use the Internet only in a common area of your home, where you can see the sites that they are visiting and the types of activities that they are engaged in. While it's important to have a filter on your computer so your child doesn't stumble onto the wrong websites, it's also important to not rely on that filter 100 percent. Some filters don't always block everything, and your child may even have the technical savvy to work around it. You still need to monitor what they are looking at. 3. Let kids know to never give out their name, phone number, address, email address, or password. They should know never to give information that could identify them in any way, such as the school they attend. Make sure they know to ask your permission before entering their email address in an online form or registering on any website. 4. Bookmark family friendly websites or save a link directly to the desktop so their favorite websites are one click away. That will save them from stumbling on the wrong website because of a typographical error. 5. Enable the security settings of your favorite search engines. Google, for example, has a SafeSearch option, which will block websites with sexually explicit content from appearing in the search results. You'll find this option by clicking "Search Preferences" from Google's main page. 6. Keep your kids from triggering malicious popups by using your browser's popup blocker settings. You might also consider disabling Java, depending on the kinds of sites your children visit. 7. Consider creating a family email address (instead of allowing individual ones) so that you can access and monitor emails. 8. Let kids know the importance of not opening emails or downloading attachments from senders whom they don't know. If you allow your kids to use email and instant messaging, reiterate that these services are ways to connect with their existing friends and not a way to make new friends. Emphasize that they should not reach out to strangers online or answer emails from people they don't know. And if they are approached by a stranger online, they should let you know immediately. Instruct your kids to let you know right away if something unexpected happens on the computer (if they get a popup asking them for personal information, for example, or if someone whom they don't know sends them an instant message). 9. Emphasize that, just because something is published on the Internet, it doesn't mean it's a fact. Give children and teens guidelines for discerning which sites are trustworthy and give them examples of sites that you turn to for trustworthy information. 10. Teach your kids what to do if they feel scared or threatened when they are online. Make sure your children know that they can come to you with any problem.
by: Jamie Jefferson